HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Barclays Bank of Kenya emerged as the most profitable bank last year, posting the highest reward to its shareholders and return on assets. In an analysis involving the 43 banks that have released their 2011 financial results, with exception of Charterhouse Bank Limited since it is under statutory management, the bank’s weighted performance topped Equity Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Cooperative Bank in descending order among the big five. Customer deposits The analysis by RSM Ashvir audit consultants categorised the banks into four: those with customer deposits…

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Small to medium sized businesses could get cheaper credit, following a move by three financial institutions to secure Sh10.2 billion from a European lender. Co-operative Bank, Housing Finance and Faulu Kenya on Wednesday became intermediary lenders for the European Investment Bank (EIB), after signing contracts to extend the funds to micro, small-and-medium sized entrepreneurs in the country. “These businesses are the most vulnerable to external shocks. The loan facilities will make it easier for them to access the necessary finances,” said EIB’s vice president, Mr Plutarchos Sakellaris. However,…

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Nigeria’s finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala addresses the media on March 23, 2012 in Pretoria, South Africa WASHINGTON, Thursday The World Bank will meet to decide which of three candidates will be its 12th president, after a historic campaign that saw the first serious challenge to US leadership of the institution. According to a source close the decision making process, the World Bank’s board will convene Monday to choose between American nominee Jim Yong Kim and two candidates who embody developing countries’ demands to have a bigger say in global governance….

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Trucks at the Mlolongo weigh bridge. Over the past two decades, the issue of limit on maximum axle weight for trucks on our roads keeps re-surfacing. Photo/HEZRON NJOROGE Transporters have been given one month to comply with load limits for five-axle trucks or lose their licences. The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) told the truckers to remove an extra axle added to the vehicles that should carry a maximum gross weight of 42 tonnes. The extra axle meant they could carry 46 tonnes. “It is illegal to add the…

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating The tea auction centre in Mombasa. KRA intends to introduce additional stringent conditions that demand that imported tea be placed in bonded warehouses. Photo/ANTHONY KAMAU Kenya stands to lose the most from the tax imposed in January on tea exports and imports at the Port of Mombasa. Traders at the Mombasa auction say the levy has already slowed down trade and that some neighbouring countries could seek alternative markets, stifling the economy of the region. The levy, gazetted by the Ministry of Agriculture on January 27, led to widespread protests….

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Cyber cafe customers in a Nairobi outlet. Photo/FILE Internet users nearly doubled last year as data prices fell and Kenyans increasingly used the Web to communicate, to the detriment of voice services. The Communications Commission of Kenya’s (CCK) report for the second quarter of the 2011/2012 financial year says the number of Internet users rose by 95.63 per cent to 17.38 million in the calendar year ending December 2011. “The cost of accessing the Internet has gone down, largely because of increased capacity,” said CCK acting director-general Francis Wangusi. The…

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating Industrialisation assistant minister Nderitu Muriithi with Fusion Capital chairman Phil Goodwin at a Nairobi hotel on April 18, 2012 at the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a technical assistance fund between Fusion Capital and the ministry. Photo/DIANA NGILA Small and medium enterprises could lose over Sh400 million meant for technical and business support in the next two months. The Ministry of Industrialisation will by June 30 close its Sh550 million technical assistance fund project set up five years ago for small businesses to set up management information systems…

HomeBusinessBusiness News Business News Share Bookmark Print Email Rating International Finance Corporation (IFC) will commit Sh2.07 billion ($25 million) in equity and Sh664 million ($8 million) in debt to boost the airline’s 10-year expansion plan. Photo/FILE The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will take up 10 per cent shares in the ongoing Kenya Airways rights issue, signalling growing interest in the stake by foreign institutions. IFC, a subsidiary of the World Bank, will commit Sh2.07 billion ($25 million) in equity and Sh664 million ($8 million) in debt to boost the airline’s 10-year expansion plan. “They have looked at our proposal…